Town expands ban on dawn/dusk activities

Lisa Chamoff

Updated 11:18 pm, Monday, September 17, 2012

The black nets are on the ceiling, in the outdoor restaurant Monday, Sept. 17, 2012. The restaurant attached to the J House Hotel has put up mosquito netting around its outdoor eating area so they don't have to cut off the lucrative amenity after sunset, as directed by the health department because of the West Nile cases.
Photo: Helen Neafsey

The nets are on all sides of the restaurant as well as the ceiling Monday, Sept. 17, 2012. The restaurant attached to the J House Hotel has put up mosquito netting around its outdoor eating area so they don't have to cut off the lucrative amenity after sunset, as directed by the health department because of the West Nile cases.
The restaurant attached to the J House Hotel has put up mosquito netting around its outdoor eating area so they don't have to cut off the lucrative amenity after sunset, as directed by the health department because of the West Nile cases.
Photo: Helen Neafsey

Nets are seen from the outside Monday, Sept. 17, 2012. The restaurant attached to the J House Hotel has put up mosquito netting around its outdoor eating area so they don't have to cut off the lucrative amenity after sunset, as directed by the health department because of the West Nile cases.
The restaurant attached to the J House Hotel has put up mosquito netting around its outdoor eating area so they don't have to cut off the lucrative amenity after sunset, as directed by the health department because of the West Nile cases.
Photo: Helen Neafsey

With Greenwich and Stamford at the epicenter of this year's West Nile virus outbreak, the Greenwich Department of Health has made a renewed call to residents to limit time outdoors in the evenings, and expanded its restriction on activities in public parks and restaurants to include the North Mianus area.

West Nile was recently confirmed in a third Stamford resident, and a group of mosquitoes collected from Mianus River Park on Sept. 5 tested positive for the virus. Residents of the two municipalities represent five of the state's nine confirmed human cases.

After the second human case in Greenwich was identified, the town health department asked all parks, playgrounds, golf courses and other areas that support public gatherings and public recreation activities to close a half-hour before dusk and reopen no earlier than a half-hour after sunrise to help reduce the public's exposure to West Nile. The department also asked all restaurants that offer outside dining to end it a half-hour before dusk. Sunset this week is around 7 p.m.

"I think our groups of parents and our players are really accommodating to schedule changes," Wadsworth said. "No one wants to be at risk."

Eleven14 Kitchen, the restaurant at the new J House hotel, covered its popular outdoor patio with mosquito netting on Sept. 7, after the health department put out the directive.

John Sheedy, the restaurant's manager, said the outdoor area was a big part of their business.

"It's widely done in the South, so we looked to see if we could make it happen up here," Sheedy said.

Sheedy said the health department gave the restaurant temporary approval before coming by with the Greenwich fire marshal to sign off on the covering. He said they were happy to spend the money to protect their customers.

"In that regard, it's money well spent," Sheedy said.

Theodore Andreadis, director of the state's mosquito-trapping program and chief medical entomologist at the Connecticut Agricultural Experiment Station in New Haven, said Connecticut has passed the mosquito season's peak, but the warm temperatures indicate the insect's activity will likely continue through the end of October and into early November.

"We've got fewer mosquitoes out there, but we're still finding West Nile in the Greenwich-Stamford area," he said. "We're not entirely out of the woods yet so people should still take precautions."

This year's mild winter, which was followed by a rainy spring and hot summer, created ideal breeding conditions for West Nile virus. Hot temperatures accelerate mosquitoes' development and allows them to transfer the virus more efficiently in a shorter period of time, Andreadis said.

"The most recent cases that have been reported were all acquired during the last week in August when it was really humid," he said. "We knew the risk was high and we've had clear indication for several months. We knew it was coming."

Calderone Baisley said the restrictions will be lifted when mosquitoes collected by the state no longer test positive for West Nile. The state collects the mosquitoes, then splits them into groups, or "pools," which are tested for the virus. This year, 2,335 mosquitoes were collected at the trapping site at the Eastern Greenwich Civic Center, and 17 pools tested positive for West Nile. Only one pool of mosquitoes collected from Mianus River Park earlier this month tested positive, while 670 insects collected at the trapping site off Lake Avenue were negative for West Nile.

"My prediction is we'll have another week or two to go, and then we'll be safe," Calderone Baisley said.